Chapter fourteen
Maria
It was so much harder leaving Mason’s house than I expected it would be to do so. Thankfully I’d set an alarm on my watch earlier in the evening when Nikki and I made these plans or I never would’ve made it happen. Pulling away from him, his warmth, and that hard body was pure torture.
I don’t know why I didn’t tell him about the weekend. Maybe because I feared he could easily talk me into staying and I can’t ditch my best friend. I’m already spending a ton of time with Mason as it is. Nikki and I have always promised each other we won’t ever let relationships interfere in our friendship. That’s easier said than done when the hormones are raging and you feel like maybe, just maybe, you’re falling in love with someone for the first time.
Nikki and I have at least two weekend getaways a year, sometimes up to four if work permits. These are important for recharging our souls. When we’re together there’s no stress and we come back feeling completely refreshed. The past few weeks my boss has been on me about the interview with Mason, and about closing the deal with Miles and Ruth. I’m not usually stressed at my job, but I have been lately.
When I add to that these new feelings I have about Mason, this weekend is essential. Nikki and I have a way of calming each other down that no one else has a chance of doing. For those who have never had a best friend, I feel sorry for them.
After a few hours on the road, I finally arrive at the beach house we’ve rented for the weekend. We normally ride together, but Nikki wanted to get here last night, so I took a ride share this morning. We’ll at least ride back together. I feel a bit guilty for not coming with her the night before. I didn’t find out she’d left early though until I woke up. Had I known, I wouldn’t have stayed with Mason last night.
“It’s about time you got here,” Nikki says as she gives me a hug.
“I’m sorry. I got on the road super early . . . leaving thirty minutes before we were supposed to take off this morning,” I tell her. “You changed plans on me.”
She laughs as she shakes her head. “After a night of romping around,” she points out. I cringe as I look behind her. The place is absolutely beautiful, right on the beach, and though there are other places around us, there’s still a feeling of seclusion. It’s just what the doctor ordered.
“I’m totally guilting you. I’m shocked you’re allowing it. I’m the one who got done early with things and was lucky enough the place was available for me to come early. Stop with the guilt,” she says. We like to rib each other, but never push it to the point the other truly feels bad.
“Good find on this place,” I tell her, more than wanting to change the subject.
She laughs. “Okay, okay, change the subject so we don’t have to talk about your sex life for now,” she says. She leads me into the house. “And, yes, I did amazing. I’m in love with this house already. I’m more than willing to pack my bags and move here permanently.”
“We both make good money, but properties like this are out of our price range beyond a weekend or two a year,” I tell her.
“I’ll keep dreaming. Someday it will come true,” she assures me.
“I have zero doubts about it. There will be a time we have the world at our fingertips because we’re powerful, smart, talented, and amazing.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” she says.
She then leads me to my room where I quickly change into my swimwear. It takes no time to put some things together and then make our way to the beach. As soon as we’re sitting in the sun with the sound of waves hitting the shore, and drinks in our hands, the last of my worries drift away. No more guilt and no more stress. That’s what this is all about.
One thing that’s essential on our girl weekends is to put our phones away. We can check them right before bed, but often we don’t even do this, because we don’t want to take a chance that something might come up to cause us stress, or make us think about work. This is a stress free zone.
This weekend it might be harder than normal for me to ignore my phone knowing that Mason’s most likely texted me. I should’ve sent him a message letting him know about our hands-off policy with electronics on getaways. I might pay for this later. But some things are more important, and Nikki and I have vowed that no matter who we’re with or what we’re doing in life, we’re still going to make time for each other.
Friendships fade because people don’t nourish them. Just as plants need watering and fed, so do our souls, and our relationships most certainly do. I think at least half of marriages could be saved with following this policy. We might live in a house with a person, but they can become a stranger if we don’t take the time to know them, to see how they’ve changed, and to cultivate the relationship. This is so much easier said than done as we get sucked into our own worlds.
We’re on our second drink when Nikki brings up Bentz. I’m a little surprised. He’s so not her usual type. I’ve always had a bit of a thing for athletes. The amount of training, dedication, time, and raw talent impresses me. Nikki’s always been far more into brainiacs.
“Bentz is a lot smarter than a person might initially see,” she tells me with her eyes twinkling. “We had fun last night. It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed talking to someone so much. Normally, the first few days of meeting a man are great, but then their true colors come out and I realize how boring they truly are. Bentz can hold a conversation better than most people I know.”
“I’m shocked,” I admit. “I’m happy for you as well.”
“Don’t get too excited. We’ll see how long it will last. I’m just saying this might be our first girl weekend together I miss my phone,” she admits.
I laugh. “I was thinking the same thing. I forgot to tell Mason about our no phone policy. I’m not sure how he’s going to handle it.”
Nikki’s eyes widen. “You might want to send him a quick text tonight so he doesn’t think you’ve left him.”
I shake my head. “Honestly, if our relationship is that weak, then I should know now, shouldn’t I?”
She frowns at me. “I don’t know. That seems a lot like playing games.”
I shake my head. “I swear it’s not playing games. But Mason and I both have busy lives. If we’re so fragile we can’t take a couple of days of no communication I’d rather know now. You know how slammed I get at times where I can’t get on the phone. I’ve had men who couldn’t handle this in the past. I think Mason’s tough enough for it.”
“Did you forget to tell him about the no-phone policy, or was this on purpose?”
I look at her for a moment. “I honestly can’t answer that,” I admit. “I want to think I simply forgot, but maybe a part of me is testing our relationship. I hate that I’m doing it.”
“You’ve been burned. It’s natural,” she says. “Don’t beat yourself up over it.” She then smiles. “Besides the weekend blackout, how are things going?”
A real smile crosses my lips. “Better than expected. He’s charming, confident, and seriously screwing with my normally controlled emotions. I think it’s in a good way, though.”
“Anyone who can mess with your emotions gets a few bonus points in my book,” Nikki says.
“Maybe,” I tell her. “I can admit I’m serious about him which scares me. Every other relationship I thought was serious didn’t work out. I have a feeling this man could break my heart unlike anyone else. I’m constantly thinking about him which isn’t usual at all. Normally when I’m in work mode, I’m fully in work mode.”
“I wouldn’t analyze it too much. As long as you’re happy, that’s what counts. Sometimes we think about the future far too much. It’s better for us to stay in the present sometimes.”
“I can agree with that,” I tell her. We clink our glasses together.
“How about the sex?” she asks.
I give her a big grin. “It’s honestly the best I’ve ever had. The man has all of the right parts, fingers, tongue . . . and he isn’t lacking at all if you know what I mean.” I waggle my eyebrows suggestively.
“I most certainly know what you mean,” she says with a giggle.
“He makes me burn from the inside out. He knows how to bring me pleasure, and I love making him squirm. I’ve never enjoyed playing with a man so much. I want to touch him nonstop and lick every inch of him.”
She waives her hand over her face as we both chuckle and look around to make sure no one’s listening to us. We rarely ever get this graphic in public. We’re aware our reputations matter. Our philosophy is that there’s always someone with a camera phone that can record us. It seems though that Mason’s fried my mind enough not to care.
After getting a bit too hot in the sun we rise and head out to the water. It’s cold, but also refreshing. We swim, splash, and let the cool waves crash over us as the sun beams down. This really is what everyone should experience at least once a year. There’s so much to see all around the world, but for those who might not want to fly somewhere, there’s so many climates within driving distance in the US. It’s great.
Washington has a lot to see and do, but I really love visiting Oregon. You can be on the beach in the morning, and then in the desert in the evening all within the same state. There are so many trails to hike, lakes to fish and swim, and areas to explore. The West has everything I could ever need or want, and I love it.
After our swim, we dry off and head back to our cozy place on the beach. We have another drink, soak in the sun for a bit, and then Nikki pulls out a frisbee from her bag. I laugh, never knowing what to expect on these weekends.
“I haven’t thrown frisbee since college,” I tell her.
“Good, then I’ll be better,” she says as we spread out. We spend the next hour throwing it back and forth. We even manage to get some other people to join in, making it even more fun as our laughter echoes across the sand.
“You two are pretty good at this,” another woman says as she misses the frisbee again and has to chase it down into the water as the tide tries to take our fun away.
“I guess throwing is like riding a bike. Once you’ve done it, you pick it back up pretty quickly,” I tell her.
“Yep, years of practice,” Nikki agrees.
“I wonder if the guys are as good at frisbee as they are at football,” I say.
“I think we could smoke them,” she says.
“We might just be able to. We’ll have to challenge them to a game of frisbee golf.”
“I think that would be amazing. Let’s do it,” she quickly agrees. Nikki’s quite competitive, and if she thinks she has a chance of winning, it really makes her want to play. She’s a good sport though when she loses.
We take a break from throwing for a while as our stomachs rumble. We head to the beachside café and grab some more drinks and snacks. We munch away as we watch the sun begin to lower in the sky. There’s nothing I like more than West Coast sunsets. They’re spectacular, colorful, and raw magic.
We decide to watch the sunset with an evening stroll on the sand. The sun continues its descent, casting a warm golden glow all around us. We move up to the water, letting the gently lapping waves wash our feet as we move along together.
“Evenings are my favorite. I love having the sunshine on me all day, but there’s something magical about a great sunset. I honestly could live here,” Nikki says. “I understand work is in the city, but getting out of the fake lights for a few days is truly refreshing.”
“Me too,” I agree. “Nothing else in the world seems to matter when you’re standing in the ocean. Maybe it’s all water that does this to me, but it seems to melt the stress away. The ocean’s the best, but I’ll take any water, whether it’s the ocean, lakes, or rivers, and the calming waves to wash all of my cares away.”
The sun finally sinks beneath the horizon, and we turn to appreciate the dancing colors splashed across the sky. Shades of orange, pink, blue, and purple reflect off the calm ocean. It’s not only magical, but absolutely breathtaking.
As the last rays of sunlight disappear below the horizon, we finally turn and make our way back to the beach house, grateful to be together, and content, our hearts full. It was a spectacular night last evening, and today has been icing on the cake. I’m grateful for each moment I have with all of the people I love.
We sit out on the deck chairs as we gaze up at the stars twinkling in the sky above. It’s cooler now, but still refreshing. Without crowds of people on the beach, it’s even more peaceful. It’s hard to come back inside when it’s so wonderful right where we are.
“What should we do tomorrow?” she asks.
“I’ve been really wanting to give paddleboarding a try. People look like they’re having so much fun while doing it,” I tell her.
“Perfect. Let’s do it. If we love it, we can buy our own instead of renting them which really adds up.”
“I agree,” I tell her. I hold up my glass. “To new adventures and life-long friendships,” I say.
She quickly clinks her glass against mine. “I fully agree.”
We don’t get to bed until nearly midnight, and though it kills me to do so, I leave my phone off. I only have one more full day with Nikki. The real world can come after that. For now, my time’s about friendship and relaxing, and nothing else.